Buy Cheese, Fly for Free?

Good old Jason Kottke, hero of the internet, has posted a couple links to some folks who’ve discovered a way to replicate the “buy lots of pudding, get frequent flier miles” plot-line from P.T. Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love, which, in turn, was based on “a caper well-known within the frequent flier community when David Phillips purchased over 1.2 million frequent flyer miles for just under $2400, which has allowed him and his family to fly to over 20 countries for free.”

Here’s the deal: You buy cheese. Kottke says:

“This weekend I was handed an opened wheel of processed cheeses by a friend. He said that his brother-in-law had caught wind of a frequent flyer promotion whereby you get 500 miles for each purchase of this cheese wheel and had purchased 75,000 miles for ~$300, which also means he’s got more opened cheese wheels than he knows what to do with. “

We have no idea if this is true, but Kottke is generally reliable. Anyone have any more info?—MEGHANN MARCO(Thanks, Mike!)

It doesn’t seem like such a great deal. American Airlines charges 25,000 miles for a continental US flight. That’s 50 packages of cheese. Amazon.com lists the cheese for $9.75. So that’s 487.50 for a free flight?

“I found both the Fondue and Cheese Wheel on cardboard display cases near the dairy cooler. These are the temporary displays that are just sitting on the floor. The Fondue is priced at $5.99 and the Cheese Wheel is only $2.99. The Cheese Wheel is actually very good cheese, an assortment of different flavors on the same wheel.”

I volunteer at a food bank and once in a blue moon someone will donate a large supply of something like this and the volunteers will cut off the proofs of purchase. So a cheap flight and…a tax write-off. Might actually be a helluva deal.

Emmi’s site now says “Due to the popularity of this promotion, our supply of AAdvantage miles has been exhausted. However, we are pleased to offer a Swiss Army Knife, valued at $20 with a valid code. One (1) redemption per person or household. If you have a code, click here.”

But this don’t help the folks with 100 or 247 more certificates from Punch Drunk Love-style spending sprees!!